SHANGHAI, Feb 23 (SMM) – China’s metal scrap imports in January slumped to 490,000 mt, down 25.1% year on year, according to Chinese customs data. This also marked the lowest monthly level since February 2016.Copper scrap imports stood at 200,000 mt last month, down 27.5% from January 2017. Aluminium scrap imports were 190,000 mt, up 11% year on year, while steel scrap imports were dow...Read More
SHANGHAI, Feb 23 (SMM) –Copper: We see copper continue to rebound after touching a low at 51,000 yuan/mt ahead of Chinese New Year. LME copper is expected to trade at $7,140-7,200/mt today with SHFE copper at 53,200-53,900 yuan/mt. In the physical market, spot discounts are seen smaller at 250-180 yuan/mt as downstream customers resume operations gradually.Aluminium: LME aluminium is expecte...Read More
SHANGHAI, Feb 23 (SMM) –Copper: We see copper continue to rebound after touching a low at 51,000 yuan/mt ahead of Chinese New Year. LME copper is expected to trade at $7,140-7,200/mt today with SHFE copper at 53,200-53,900 yuan/mt. In the physical market, spot discounts are seen smaller at 250-180 yuan/mt as downstream customers resume operations gradually.Aluminium: LME aluminium is expecte...Read More
SHANGHAI, Feb 23 (SMM) –Copper: We see copper continue to rebound after touching a low at 51,000 yuan/mt ahead of Chinese New Year. LME copper is expected to trade at $7,140-7,200/mt today with SHFE copper at 53,200-53,900 yuan/mt. In the physical market, spot discounts are seen smaller at 250-180 yuan/mt as downstream customers resume operations gradually.Aluminium: LME aluminium is expecte...Read More
The benchmark cash/three-month spread in aluminium at the start of this week hit backwardation levels not seen since before the Global Financial Crisis, which is a landmark event but not necessarily a signal of a major shift in market dynamics.It is most probably a short-term aberration caused by the potent combination of February date shorts clashing with dominant longs but given added spice and...Read More
The base metals complex on the London Metal Exchange is mixed this morning, Friday February 23, with prices down by an average of 0.2%. Zinc prices lead the decline with a 0.8% fall to $3,501 per tonne, copper and nickel prices are off by 0.4% with the former at $7,143 per tonne, aluminium prices are bucking the trend with a 0.4% rise, while the rest are little changed. Volume has returned to arou...Read More
Metal Bulletin Research (MBR) has a very good track record in producing accurate price forecasts for the base metals. In MB’s Apex survey, which ranks the quarterly forecasting accuracy of the around 20 commodity banks and trading desks, MBR regularly features in the top-five leader boards.For the latest complete quarter, Q4 2017, MBR’s forecasts for the period, submitted in early Octobe...Read More
Millions of tonnes of material are likely to be redirected to steel markets outside of the United States if US President Donald Trump levies strict tariffs or quotas on imports after the Section 232 investigation. While US domestic steel prices are expected to spike if the US Department of Commerce's 232 recommendations lead to trade defense measures, there are two schools of thought as to how thi...Read More
The benchmark cash/three-month spread in aluminium at the start of this week hit backwardation levels not seen since before the Global Financial Crisis, which is a landmark event but not necessarily a signal of a major shift in market dynamics.It is most probably a short-term aberration caused by the potent combination of February date shorts clashing with dominant longs but given added spice and...Read More
Wieland Group will strengthen its position as Europe's largest semi-finished copper products producer by acquiring Aurubis' rolled-products division later this year, yet the deal is intended to kickstart growth in the US and Asian markets, chief executive officer Erwin Mayr told Metal Bulletin. The two German companies said they were in talks over the acquisition, which will see Wieland take on a...Read More
The benchmark cash/three-month spread in aluminium at the start of this week hit backwardation levels not seen since before the Global Financial Crisis, which is a landmark event but not necessarily a signal of a major shift in market dynamics.It is most probably a short-term aberration caused by the potent combination of February date shorts clashing with dominant longs but given added spice and...Read More
Tin was the only base metal to close in positive territory on the London Metal Exchange on Friday February 23, with the rest correcting lower.The three-month tin price ended $75 per tonne higher than the previous close, with unchanged all week at record lows of just 1,860 tonnes."Tin's fundamental backdrop remains positively skewed after the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) reported a marke...Read More
Iron ore prices strengthened on Friday February 23 amid expectations of a possible extension of production limits in China beyond the country's winter heating season, which ends in mid-March. Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $78.82 per tonne cfr Qingdao Daily change: up by $0.62 per tonne Month-to-date average: $77.04 per tonne Metal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium Index Today: $61.36 per t...Read More
Kim Leppold, Senior Consultant, Metal Bulletin Research.Metal Bulletin Research (MBR) has examined the effects of the potential Section 232 actions on the US OCTG markets based on the recommendations set out by the Department of Commerce in mid-February.The three recommendations are essentially a blanket tariff up to 24% on all steel products imported to the USA from all countries, a blanket quota...Read More
The base price assessment in Europe for 2mm, grade-304 cold-rolled (CR) stainless steel sheet has widened upward by ?,?10 per tonne over the past week, despite poor demand and continued import pressure, sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday February 23.Metal Bulletin's weekly base price assessment on Friday for 2mm, grade-304 CR stainless steel sheet was ?,?1,060-1,110 ($1,304-1,365) per tonne del...Read More
Indian mills are likely to increase their domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) by about 1,500 rupees ($19) per tonne in March because import prices for the material remain higher than those to local buyers."We are selling HRC in India at a discount compared with international prices. There is scope to increase the domestic price of HRC by at least 1,500 rupees per tonne," an official from an...Read More
Paul Crone will join Engelhart Commodities Trading Partners (ECTP) as the head of proprietary trading for its metals division, based in Stamford, Connecticut, in the United States.He will be joined at ECTP by Brandon Rust, also from hedge fund Citrine Capital Management, which Crone founded in 2012. ECTP has been seeking to increase its proprietary trading activities in metals for some time; Crone...Read More
The benchmark cash/three-month spread in aluminium at the start of this week hit backwardation levels not seen since before the Global Financial Crisis, which is a landmark event but not necessarily a signal of a major shift in market dynamics.It is most probably a short-term aberration caused by the potent combination of February date shorts clashing with dominant longs but given added spice and...Read More
Tin was the only base metal to close in positive territory on the London Metal Exchange on Friday February 23, with the rest correcting lower.The three-month tin price ended $75 per tonne higher than the previous close, with unchanged all week at record lows of just 1,860 tonnes."Tin's fundamental backdrop remains positively skewed after the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) reported a marke...Read More
Treatment charges (TCs) for spot zinc and lead concentrates continued to trade at low levels in February, with the Chinese market winding down for New Year holidays and participants discussing annual terms at the IZA conference in California.Spot terms for zinc concentrates remained at multi-year lows of $10-30 per tonne. Demand across the month slowed while Chinese smelters wound down production,...Read More